opera warhorses interview
TRANSCRIPT
Rising Stars: An Interview with Raymond Aceto, Part I February 26th, 2010
[Note from William: Over the past several months, I have posted
occasional interviews with opera singers and other artists, whose
careers are obviously in their ascendancy, reflecting worldwide
interest in securing their talents for future opera seasons. The current
interview is with Raymond Aceto, the basso cantante graduate of the
Metropolitan Opera Company's Lindemann Young Artists Development
Program. I interviewed him last month in Houston singing Baron
Scarpia in the new Houston Grand Opera production of Puccini's
"Tosca" and again last week in San Diego, where he sang Zaccaria in
Verdi's "Nabucco" for the San Diego Opera. The "Houston" half of the
interview is published here. The remainder will be posted at a later
date.]
* * * * *
Wm: How did you become interested in opera?
RA: It’s a funny answer. I grew up in Brunswick Ohio, outside of Cleveland. I went
to Brunswick High School, where I was in the band and choir and also sang in a rock
band. I have a collection of guitars. I determined that I would pursue music in
college.
I was admitted to the Bowling Green State University (near Toledo) and took the
music courses. There, I had a wonderful voice teacher, Andreas Poulimenos, who
helped me discover that I have more voice than I thought I had. Bowling Green
offers extensive training in both music and the performing arts. I switched into a
performance major and fell in love with the idea of operatic performance. I was then
accepted into the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development
Program.
Wm: When did you establish that you are a basso?
RA: It was obvious as soon as my voice changed. When I was 13 and 14, I was
singing lead vocals in a rock music band. However, at age 15, I was relegated to
singing backup vocals. Bassos do not sing lead vocals in rock bands.
Wm. Possibly to the annoyance of some baritones with empty weeks in
their schedules, you continue to perform not only Scarpia but Escamillo
as well. For a role that has such familiar music, Escamillo has always
seemed to me to be a tricky role to sing. Obviously, you believe the role
lies in your voice. Do you believe that having a voice that lies lower than
most baritones brings advantages to singing Escamillo?
RA: Escamillo’s part has a high tessitura, but also much of it lies low. A lot of
baritones handle the high parts well, but cannot make the low sections of, say, the
Toreador Song, sound good. A basso who has the ability to negotiate the top, can, in
my opinion, get better coverage of the role throughout its range.
[Below: Escamillo (Raymond Aceto) has become the new lover of Carmen (Victoria Vizin); edited
image, based on a Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]
Wm. With the Puccini sesquicentennial behind us and casting for operas
during the Wagner and Verdi bicentennials currently in progress, you
have amassed a significant repertory of roles for all three composers. To
begin with Puccini, you have sung smaller basso roles in “Tosca”, but
there are relatively few bassos historically that have assayed the role of
Scarpia. Were you inspired on those occasions when you sang
those comprimario roles in “Tosca” to consider Scarpia as a future role?
What attracts you to the part?
RA: I have been attracted to the role of Scarpia since I was 17 or 18. I always thought
it was a great role, I studied it and always wanted to sing it. Conductor Patrick
Summers approached me in 2006 when I was performing the role of Fiesco in
Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” in Houston.
[Below: Fiesco Grimaldi (Raymond Aceto, left) threatens the life of Boccanegra, the pirate,
(Dmitri Hvorostovsky) in the 2006 Houston Grand Opera production of Verdi's "Simon
Boccanegra"; edited image, based on a Brett Coomer photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand
Opera.]
I love singing Puccini, but he did not write that much for the basso voice. I do sing
Timur in “Turandot” and Colline in “La Boheme”. I love these roles, but none of
these are as satisfying as performing Scarpia. It is an intense, driven role. It suits my
personality. I love the challenge, the danger, the intensity.
I think it can be a role that can sound wonderfully sung by a lower voice. It does take
a great deal of technique and skill to get through the singing. Some baritones that I
have heard bark some of the passages, but I cannot do that physically or vocally.
Since I find Scarpia calculated and sinister, I have a smile on my face masking the
calculating demeanor. (For the performance review, see: A New “Tosca” for
Houston Grand Opera – January 30, 2010.)
Wm: Although it’s rare to hear a basso cantante sing the role, a few have
done so. I saw Giorgio Tozzi perform the role opposite the Tosca of
Magda Olivero at San Francisco Opera.
RA: Giorgio Tozzi is one of the basso cantantes I most admire.
Wm. My website reviews have characterized you among the
leadingbasso cantantes of our day. Do you believe that basso
cantantedescribes your voice, even though you also sing Escamillo and
Scarpia?
RA: I think basso cantante describes what I am always striving to do. At every point
that I am singing, I am driving to produce the most beautiful sound that I can sing.
Wm: As we move into the Verdi bicentennial you are singing such basso
roles as Zaccaria, Banquo, Fiesco and Ramfis. Even though you are not
particularly associated with the bel canto repertory, it seems possible
that Zaccaria could become one of your signature roles. “Nabucco” was
an opera that Gaetano Donizetti actually conducted, and of which he
very much approved. Does performing Zaccaria appeal to your inner bel
canto?
RA: Most definitely. Even though I have been singing Escamillo and Scarpia, I truly
do feel my soul and my voice is in bel canto, particularly Verdi. I find nothing so
rewarding as a good legato line to make the voice feel right at home for me.
Wm: One can hear how Verdi’s use of the basso sound evolved over his
career. Do you as an artist find that you approach singing, say, the role
of Zaccaria differently from Fiesco or Ramfis?
RA: Well, I think that Fiesco is written in the same vocal style as some of Zaccaria’s
music, whereas Ramfis is declamatory, except for the Temple Scene.
Zaccaria’s three arias are each written in a different style. The first aria, D’Egitto la
sui lidi , represents Verdi’s very early style. However, the second act Preghiera,Tu sul
labbro de’ veggenti, reminds me of the later Verdi that you encounter in “Don
Carlo”. (For the performance review of Aceto’s Zaccaria, see: Fink, Valayre and
Aceto in San Diego Opera’s Exceptional “Nabucco” – February 20, 2010.)
[Below: Raymond Aceto is Zaccaria in San Diego Opera's production of Verdi's "Nabucco";
edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]
My ultimate Verdi goal is Filippo in “Don Carlo”. Because there are five superstar
roles, it is rarely done these days. Once I was the Filippo to Jerome Hines’
Inquisitor. He won by the way.
Wm: You are scheduled to sing in Hunding in Francesca Zambello’s
production of “Die Walkuere” in San Francisco. In that production,
Hunding seems to be a particularly lively part, not the “stand with a
spear and sing” stage direction still sometimes seen. In a production
such as Zambello’s do you begin to prepare for it in any particular way
prior to your arrival in San Francisco for rehearsals?
RA: My preparation for every role is pretty much the same. I am meticulous in
preparing the text and music. However, I want to be open to what the conductor and
the stage director want from me. Also, I find that I am also influenced by the scenery
and costume.
I try not to come in with too preconceived an interpretation. For Scarpia in Houston,
I listened to no other singer in that role, wanting to find my own approach to it.
Wm: You have worked with a number of stage directors over your
career. Which ones are particularly noteworthy?
RA: I think every opera singer should have the opportunity to work with David
McVicar. I have done two myself. David is intense, but highly intelligent and
creative. Those who work with him have a tight feel of support and camaraderie. He
will get directly into your face one second, then he puts his arm around you the next
moment.
[Below: The Comte des Grieux (Raymond Aceto) expresses his concerns to Manon (Natalie
Dessay) in David McVicar's production of Massenet's "Manon"; edited image, based on a Dan
Rest photograph, courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Chicago]
I was the assassin Sparafucile in McVicar’s production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at the
Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, and his interpretation emphasizes
the considerable debauchery of the characters. I also was in his production of
Massenet’s “Manon” at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. (For the performance review,
see: Kaufmann Astonishes, Dessay Enraptures, in McVicar “Manon”:
Lyric Opera of Chicago – October 15, 2008.)
The production of Puccini’s “Tosca” that I just completed with Director John Caird
was wonderful. Caird, who comes to opera from theater and film had a completely
fresh perspective on staging the opera. He was so wonderful, so intelligent, so into
the whole process. As it turned out all the principals, myself as Scarpia, Patricia
Racette as Tosca and Alexei Dolgov as Cavaradossi were each performing the role for
the first time. We all took great pains to be as good actors as we could be.
Besides McVicar and Caird, I was impressed working with Franco Zefferelli, and also
enjoyed Christopher Alden staging Verdi’s “Aida”. It is always a great experience to
work with a great director personally. Unfortunately, many of the productions are
revivals or remounts and one ends up with assistants without the ability to approach
the production as creatively as the person who conceptualized the production.
However, an opera singer has to stay focussed when they move from opera house to
opera house into a variety of productions.
Wm: And which conductors do you look forward to working with?
RA: There are so many I like working with. I have worked a lot with Patrick
Summers, and appreciate his sensibility, his accuracy and support. I like to work a
lot with Nicola Luisotti. (We call each the bass brothers, because both of us have
low-pitched speaking voices.) I have found both Emmanuel Villaume and Stephen
Lord to be very close supporters of mine. Another conductor who is sensitive to the
needs of singers is Marco Armiliato.
Wm: I understand that the first “Tosca” of your career was an especially
memorable experience.
RA: Yes, as a 23 year old, I played the Jailer in “Tosca’s” third act. Luciano Pavarotti
was the Cavaradossi. In my whole life., he is the best voice I have ever heard. One
day, as I was standing in the wings, Pavarotti said to me “beautiful voice, have a
good time”. Then, after I sang the Jailer’s words, I had to cross the stage in front of
him to exit, and Luciano said “bravo”. It was amazing.
Wm: Besides Pavarotti, which artists do you admire?
RA: I have worked with Bryn Terfel, Susan Graham, Placido Domingo, Paul Groves
and Renee Fleming. In May, I will celebrate my 20th year performing opera. It has
been wonderful working with my friends in the community of bassos. Sam Ramey
and I have become very good friends, and so it is also with James Morris. Ramey and
Morris have established their presence in the generation before me, and there are
younger guys than me who will do their thing. I have nothing but respect for all of
them and their careers.
http://www.operawarhorses.com/2010/02/26/rising-stars-an-interview-with-
raymond-aceto-part-i/